Patriots Beat: Brady a mentor more than ever

The new guys may have felt like they knew whom they were dealing with. That is, until regular-season game week Tom Brady reared his head. The man who, including postseason, is about to make his 200th career start, is helping prepare a trio of rookie receivers plus a rookie tight end for their first professional game.

The new guys may have felt like they knew whom they were dealing with.

That is, until regular-season game week Tom Brady reared his head.

The man who, including postseason, is about to make his 200th career start, is helping prepare a trio of rookie receivers plus a rookie tight end for their first professional game.

Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce, Kenbrell Thompkins and tight end Zach Sudfeld are seeing an NFL game week for the first time, and at the same time are getting a different perspective on their quarterback.

"You can definitely see the intensity has picked up," Dobson said after Wednesday’s practice. "The coaching is different. You’ve really got to be accountable for what you do now, because this is one that counts."

While acknowledging that he’s had "40 or 50 practices" with the brand new batch, Brady has taken to the teacher role.

Once the games count in the standings, as Sunday’s season opener at Buffalo (Ch. 4, 1 p.m.) will, Brady feels partially responsible for bringing the new guys up to a regular-season standard.

"A lot of the extra time and energy has been with the tight end position, the receiver position, making sure that we’re doing the right thing, that we’re on the same page," Brady said. "Because you really don’t want to go into a situation like this, at Buffalo, on the road, division opponent, loud stadium, and really not be able to communicate and know what to do."

Not that it’s always the most seamless process.

"I’m not the most patient guy to begin with, so that’s something that I’m working on," Brady admitted. "But you understand that there’s a learning curve, and there’s things that are going to come up that — you know, look, some guys haven’t experienced the things that I’ve experienced, so you try to talk about, ‘OK, this is possibly going to happen, if it happens then I want you to make this adjustment.’ Well it happens and then the adjustment’s not made and I say ‘Well I told you…’

"But sometimes that’s what I do with my three-year-old too, and he doesn’t listen either."

So, how do these guys take to being, in a roundabout way, compared to a three-year old?

Thompkins, for one, was unfazed by Brady’s comparison. The case could be made that the breakout star of camp has Brady partially to thank for his NFL employment.

In other words, no offense taken.

"Tom is Tom," said the 25-year-old rookie free agent out of Cincinnati. "He tries to make sure that you’re on top of things you’re supposed to be on top of. If you make a mistake, Tom’s definitely going to make sure you solve it."

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This is not a time Brady can just sit back and watch the pieces fall into place. There’s no Deion Branch here, a player with whom Brady had unspoken chemistry.

Perhaps one of the trio will emerge in that role. Just not yet.

"I’m not a coach, I’m a player, but there’s teaching, there are things I see that we’re trying to get on the same page," said Brady.

So it is that Dobson, Boyce and Thompkins have Chad O’Shea as their wide receivers coach. They have Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator. They have Bill Belichick as their head coach.

And they have Tom Brady, their on-field mentor. Even if that mentorship extends to the film room.

The QB said he sometimes controls the clicker that controls the DVD player when meeting with receivers, just as a coach would.

"A lot of it is me showing them a look and saying, ‘Well this is what I expect, so if we get that look, we’re going to do it the way that I really can anticipate,’" he said. "And the more of those things that we can cover through past experiences, and maybe it’s not their past experience, but our Patriots past experience, if we can cover some of that in the film room, we don’t have to cover it on the field and we can when one of those situations happens in Buffalo."

Dobson’s used to seeing his quarterback in a dual role.

"He’s like a coach, definitely," said Dobson. "He knows a lot about that game that I don’t. He’s played the game longer than me. He knows so much about the game. We just try to get on the same page."

In modern football, a premium has been placed on film (make that DVD) work. So when a Hall of Fame quarterback gets together with three rookie wide receivers who may hold a key to the foreseeable future, the sessions carry a bit more weight.

"They’re important, definitely," said Thompkins. "It’s different seeing things from the quarterback’s eyes than the wide receiver’s eyes."

Not that Thompkins is starstruck around Brady any more. Nor does he plan on freezing up when he plays his first official NFL game.

"I try not to get nervous," Thompkins said. "I feel like it starts with preparation. If I prepare well, I won’t be nervous at all."

If Brady has his way, preparation shouldn’t be a problem.

Tim Whelan Jr. can be reached at 508-626-4402 or twhelan@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @thattimwhelan.